Impacted Bowel

Failure to Provide Proper Care

This waste or obstruction can cause rectal infection that can lead to sepsis and death. Of course many nursing home patients cannot communicate this problem. It is up to the nursing home to monitor the patient’s bowel movement. We know of one client who did not have a bowel movement in 13 days while at a nursing home. The nursing home did not realize this and the patient’s rectum became necrotic (rotting tissue) and the patient died.